jennifer savran kelly

LunaSea Bindery & Press

LunaSea Press is an ever-evolving labor of love. I developed a passion for books because of all the roles they play. A book can be authoritative and playful, artistic and functional, historic and cutting-edge, and just plain magical.

As a book artist I’m especially interested in gender roles and identity and the harmful power dynamics that cause unseen consequences in women’s daily lives, such as rape and sexual abuse, domestic violence, eating disorders, and unequal pay. Through a combination of text, image, and book, I seek to challenge popular cultural beliefs and practices that negatively impact women’s health.

Correspondence Books, 2014. ¾” x 2″; Artist’s book series. Cardboard, paper. For this series, I excerpted single sentences from letters, emails, Facebook posts, and feedback on my writing, received from family and friends. Each small accordion book contains one of these sentences, illustrated with cover art cut from various magazines.

The Book of Tea, 2005. 3 ¾” x 7 ½”; Artist’s book. Binder’s board, paper, envelopes, loose tea, ink. Flag binding, with pamphlet. The Book of Tea is a gift. The Book of Tea is to be shared. It both describes and contains a number of herbal teas, which can be brewed separately or mixed together for different moods and occasions.

Hysteria, 2003. 7 ¼” x 12 ¼”; Handbound, cloth, edition of 50. Perfect-bound, paper, edition of 100. A collection of poetry, prose, and visual art on the subject of women’s mental health, featuring over 30 authors and artists, with an introduction by Jane M. Ussher, Professor and Chair of Women’s Health Psychology, and Director of the Gender Culture and Health Research Unit, University of Western Sydney, Australia